Bisi Bele Bath is a traditional dish of south India which involves the use of rice, lentils, and spicy masala. I have used Foxtail millet instead of rice, as millets are rich in fiber and are much healthy when compared with rice. Read more about the benefits of millets over here. I have used moong dal instead of toor dal here, as I have digestive problems with toor dal. So go ahead and use toor dal, moong dal also tastes good( hardly notice the difference in taste).

Preparation Process

1. Soak the foxtail millet in water for 4 hours or preferably overnight. Do not skip the soaking process. Add the soaked millets in the pressure cooker along with toor dal ( i used moong dal) and turmeric powder. Add 5 cups of water. Pressure cook for 4 whistles.

2. In another deep saucepan, on medium heat, add ghee, when the ghee becomes hot add mustard seeds, let it splutter, then add curry leaves, shallots. Fry the shallots till they turn translucent, then add chopped vegetables and 1 and 1/2 cups of water. Boil the vegetables.

3. Once the vegetables are cooked, add soaked tamarind juice, Bisi bele bath powder, and desiccated coconut and salt to taste. Simmer till the raw smell of the tamarind goes off(approx 10 min).

4. Then add the cooked millets to the gravy. Stir until well combined. Keep the flame on low. Close the lid and cook it for a minute. Switch off the flame.

5. Serve it with mixture, chutney, or papads.

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Foxtail Millet Bisi Bele Bath

Preparation time:15 min

Cooking time:45 min

Total Time:1 hour

Yield:4-5 servings

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For Cooking Millets

• 1 cup foxtail millet
• 1/2 cup toor dal
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 5 cups of water

For tempering and cooking vegetables

• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 10-12 shallots
• 2 cups chopped vegetables ( carrots, potatoes, beans, peas)
• 1 and 1/2 cups of water
• marble size tamarind( soaked in 1/4 cup of water)
• 4 tsp bisi bele bath powder
• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Soak the millets in water for 4 hours or overnight. In a pressure cooker, add soaked millets, toor dal, and turmeric powder. Pressure cook it for 2 whistles.
2. Meanwhile, soak the tamarind in water.
3. In another deep bottomed saucepan, on medium heat, add ghee, when the ghee becomes hot, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds have spluttered, add curry leaves, and shallots. Fry till the shallots become translucent.
4. Add chopped vegetables, stir for a minute, then add water. Cook the vegetables.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the tamarind juice, Bisi bele bath powder, desiccated coconut, and salt. Let it simmer for 10 minutes until the raw smell goes off.
6. Keep the flame on low. Add the cooked millets and lentils to the gravy. Mix it well. Close the lid and cook it for a minute. Switch off the flame.
7. Serve it hot along with mixture, chutney or papads.

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